


Feeding Trouble

by Princesszellie



Series: Living with Trouble [4]
Category: Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padawan Quinlan Vos, Pet Sitting, Trouble the Loth Cat, everyones going to die, loth cat, the directions were not followed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26472502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princesszellie/pseuds/Princesszellie
Summary: When Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are given an off planet mission- who will care for Trouble while their gone? Enter Quinlan Vos Pet Sitter extraordinaire, or not. Sometimes even the simple task of feeding the Loth Cat can lead to Trouble!
Series: Living with Trouble [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924462
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Feeding Trouble

The day had finally arrived- Obi-Wan and his Master had been given an off world assignment. It had been their first since Trouble had come into their lives and Obi-Wan panicked. Who would care for his baby?! His state of frantic scrambling had been highly amusing for Qui-Gon, for the first hour, but it did get old so he stepped in and solved the problem for his clearly struggling Padawan.

_“Why not ask Quinlan?”_ Why not _indeed._ But, Obi-Wan was desperate and none of his other friends had even seen Trouble (which was Quin’s fault after all!) so what else could he do? Nothing as it turned out, and filled with anxiety he gave over the care of his beloved Loth Cat to Quinlan Vos and had to be practically dragged on to the waiting transport.

So now, Quin the Loth Cat Sitter made his way to tend his new charge. He wasn’t particularly thrilled with the arraignment either. Obi-Wan had left him no less than three pages of instructions. It was a _cat_ for gods sake…how much was there to it really? It ate, it made waste and more than likely it would hide under the bed the whole time he was in there.

With a sigh Quin opened the door to the other Jedi’s quarters. “ _Trouble_ ,” he called in his friendliest tone and best impersonation of Obi-Wan’s slightly snotty accent.

Not one sound answered him. Fine then. Quinlan moved cautiously farther into Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s rooms. This was a novel experience, being in their space without their also existing in it. Familiar things he had seen on other visits while their owners were present seemed new and exciting. There were a _lot_ of plants in here…this one was full of tooth marks and a bunch of leaves were missing…the work of a Loth Cat no doubt.

He wandered deeper into the living space, casually making note of _everything_. Quin was so absorbed in looking though Obi-Wan’s notes on the disturbingly dry history of Master C’rama and the planet she repopulated with a particular type of grain after a devastating civil war, he didn’t notice the pair of yellow eyes on him. Why in gods name would Kenobi even _bother_ with reading this assignment let alone create multiple pages of coherent notes. It was nauseating really. What a suck up.

Quinlan snorted his distain aloud and Trouble hissed softly back at him. He looked down and found her staring at him from Obi-Wan’s bedroom door. “There you are you little pain in the ….don’t look at me like that….” He did not appreciate her flattened ears and poofy tail. “Do you want food or not?”

Trouble didn’t move from her observation point the entire time Quin went through the three page routine line by line. Any time he got just one hair too close she would hiss loudly to keep him away. He ignored her and finished the job. “There you go you monster, come eat.” Trouble had no intention of moving from safety.  
  


“Okay fine,” Quin sighed. “Have it your way. I’ll see you tomorrow.” This was going to be a trial. He hopped Obi-Wan’s mission wasn’t a long one.  
  
**Day two:**

“I wish you wouldn’t stare at me like that.” Quin muttered. His task was degrading enough- cleaning up very green Loth Cat vomit was definitely below a Jedi Padawan- and Trouble’s intense stare of hatred was not making it any more fun. “Stop eating Qui-Gon’s plants! He is going to kill you when he gets back.” 

Trouble grumbled at him low in her throat. “He’ll know it wasn’t _me_ eating them, stupid. Just eat the food you’re supposed too! These clearly don’t agree with you.” They stared at each other over the leafy puke pile for a second; then Trouble bared her teeth and scuttled off.

“ _Ugh_. Fine then. Eat something poisonous for all I care.” The boy wondered briefly if Master Jinn would in fact keep something deadly, and decided it was probably a safe bet.

**Day Four:**

Trouble was hungry. The new slave was late, _very late._ She sat on the forbidden counter in the kitchen swishing her tail in agitation. Her stomach was very empty and she ate all the bugs days ago. She also polished off the tastiest plant this morning, casting its now empty pot on to the floor in disgust before her morning sprint around the rooms at top speed. Trouble was lonely- and _bored_.

The door opened and The Other Boy entered. Trouble _yowled_ from her perch at top volume to express her deepest displeasure. Quin ignored her outrage, “What? I’m _sorry_ …some of us have _lives_ and don’t just lay around all day- oh come on Trouble! Why!?” He had found her handiwork- excellent. She _yowled_ again insisting she be fed before clean up began.

“ _Fine!_ ” Quin shouted back. Things were not fine. He hadn’t heard from Obi-Wan at all, and he just wanted this to be over.  
  
**Day eight:**

Quin limped down the hall wishing Obi-Wan’s rooms were closer to his own. Garen had just kicked his ass, quite literally, sparing and he was in severe quantifiable pain. He just had to feed Trouble then he could go to bed- how he longed to lay down and attempt to meditate the ache away.

Trouble was in her ridiculous bread loaf position on the couch, curled up in a tunic of Obi-Wan’s Quinlan had placed there for her. He could sense her sadness and confusion about where her humans had gone, and he had hoped it would help. Quin was very pleased to see it brought Trouble comfort, and he plopped down heavily beside her- but not _too_ close. Trouble surprisingly stayed loafed and only lowered her ears a little bit at him as if to ask what his problem was.

“It hurts…everywhere.” He told her with a groan. They sat in companionable silence. It was nice, sitting with a fuzzy creature who today didn’t wish him dead. Quin’s eyes closed slowly, he was suddenly very tired. Maybe a quick rest before he tended the cat- yeah, that would be nice.

Time passed, although how much Quin really didn’t know as he fell into a pretty deep sleep, which was interrupted by a gentle pressure on his leg. He opened one eye slowly to find Trouble standing with her front paws on his thigh, her long sharp claws leaving tiny indents in the fabric of his pants- and the flesh underneath.

Genuine fear brought the rest of his body and mind awake and he stared, hardly breathing, into her upturned face. There was no malice in her round, flat face just curiosity and also the usual hunger.

“Hello.” He said softly. The last time Trouble was this close to him she peed all over his favorite pair of boots- which had been a total loss. He was still mad about it, but not enough to pick a fight…not with those knives held against his femoral artery.

Trouble _burred_ in reply and in a lithe motion leapt down from the couch and headed for the kitchen. It was dinner time. Quin allowed himself to breathe again while watching the poofy tailed being trot off; maybe they could be friends yet.

**Some day of unknown number in week two:**

Obi-wan must be dead. Why else would there be no word on their return or even a check in? Quin knew if his friend could get out a message to check on his beloved Loth Cat he absolutely would. Things must be bad there.

Things on the home front weren’t going great either. Despite having come to a tenuous truce with Trouble, Quin was still being punished for Obi-Wan’s absence. Half of the plants were dying from being mauled, or knocked over too many times; Obi-Wan’s bed had been ripped apart, and at the moment Quin was studying the abstract art which had been done on the kitchen floor in what he suspected was pee. Hoped it was pee.

“This really isn’t necessary Trouble!” He shouted to the galaxy at large, as Trouble hadn’t shown herself in two days. “It’s not _my_ fault!” _Stop punishing me!_ Speaking of punishments- boy oh boy was Obi-Wan Kenobi in for some serious hurt when (if) he got home. This was becoming unbearable- for every being involved.

**The next day:**

Everything was just _behind_ today and Trouble was an afterthought to Quinlan. He had forgotten her after breakfast, which was rushed because he had over slept after staying up late to study for an exam which he also ended up being late for (and probably failed), then he had to literally run to spar with Master Ploon because he had spent two minutes too long bitching about the exam with Siri and Garen and _then_ he had skipped out on meditation time with his own Master in order to feed this stupid cat. Who, yet again, didn’t bother to show her round stupid face when he came in- _Typical_.

Still feeling bitter about the exam- and how Obi-Wan hadn’t been here to take it and also how no doubt he would have gotten everything correct- Quin fumed his way through changing and cleaning Trouble’s dishes and toilet. He was not paying attention to reality around him, only his own seething, so he did not hear the soft sound of the door opening.

“There you are Padawan, I have been looking for you.” Master Tholme stood in the open door way, arms crossed over his chest. “Did you forget about our meeting?”

Quin stared at him blankly, unsure why there was a sharp almost physical pang in his chest- just as Trouble leapt out from under the couch, appraised the current situation and sprinted for freedom.

“Master no!” Quin shrieked, “The door!” It was too late; the disaster was in motion full bore. Tholme had forgotten about Trouble, in the sense she was _there_ , he clearly knew this was a place he would find his Padawan and why; but he had forgotten the awful beast itself. Trouble was fast and she would be contained in this prison without her Boy no longer. Hissing the whole distance between her hiding spot inside the couch frame, and past a startled Master Tholme, she broke out into the hallway of the Jedi Temple and vanished.

Tholme and Quinlan started at each other in dumbfounded silence. The air had been sucked out of the room, as if the door was to an open airlock and not the hallway of the Temple. Rule number two, on the first page of three, was _‘no visitors!’_. There was in fact an exclamation point- that was how serious Obi-Wan had been.

How… _how_ …oh gods…what the hell should he do now!? The Temple was huge, and Trouble was small and scared and running wild…how would he ever find her!? He wasn’t.

“We are going to die.” Quin whispered, feeling the cold chill of realization gripping his heart. “We are all going to die.”

* * *

**Somewhere in the Galaxy far, far away from the Jedi Temple:**

  
“You need to focus Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon chided his Apprentice gently. “You need to clear your mind. The cat is fine.”

Obi-Wan sighed deeply and refused to make eye contact with his Master. This mission was dragging on and now while cold, soaked to the bone and hungry for the hundredth (seemingly) day in a row Qui-Gon insisted on mediation. Obi-Wan was not having it- he just wanted to go home. He missed Trouble terribly, and yes his Master was right, he was worrying about her.

“This is why Jedi are not supposed to have attachments;” Qui-Gon said softly, “Distractions can be deadly.”

“Master, I do not believe the tenets of the Jedi Order are referring to cats when they speak of attachments.” Obi-Wan snapped back in his clipped accented way that never failed to make Qui-Gon smile.

“Maybe not, but right now it is a cat which is keeping you from clearing your mind, so the creeds apply.” He knew this mission was pushing Obi-Wan to his limits, and honestly Quinlan Vos was likely something to be worried about in his current role of caretaker, but the sooner they focused and solved the issues at hand the sooner they could return to Coruscant.

With another unhappy sigh, Obi-Wan began clearing his mind of thoughts of food, and his bed and Trouble’s perfectly soft little face…..great, here came more rain. Raising the hood of his robe Obi-Wan felt a shiver run the length of his spine that had nothing to do with the icy rain beginning to patter from the sky. No, something was wrong- very wrong. He glanced at Qui-Gon to see if he had felt it as well, but his Master’s face was serene in meditation.

This had to do with Trouble; he could feel it- he needed to get back to the Temple immediately!

**Author's Note:**

> Oh so so sorry Quin! He might not come out of this one alive! hahah 
> 
> I am a professional pet sitter so...this is basically how any week of my life goes. Honestly there is a lot more bodily fluids and pouting under the furniture than most people probably expect. People do write me books about how to care for their pets, so three pages would be light in most cases! I have sat a lot of animals including exotics, dogs of all sizes, one of those peach fuzz cats, horses and...a buffalo. :) 
> 
> I can't say I have been in Quin's situation (some trauma inducing medical emergencies though!). He might need to call in some back up to help him out of this nightmare. Otherwise Obi-Wan will for sure murder him!


End file.
